cousins

at the zoo...

thanksgiving recap

Is Thanksgiving really over?

Didn't it just happen like a day ago?  Wait.  It's been FIVE days?!  Holy moly. 

Drew, Asher and I spent the holiday in New Jersey with Drew's family and had the most marvelous time.  The turkey soldier placeholders were a big hit, bringing both a sweet treat and orderly seating to our dinner table.  Win-win.

Although they were adorable and delicious, a certain other little turkey completely stole the show.  At least the show as it was recorded through my camera lens.  :-)

Asher had a ton of fun playing with his big cousins who still insist on calling him "Baby Asher."  I'm sure he'll just love that if it keeps up, but for now it's adorable.

Since the grandsons won't be here on Christmas morning, Grandma gave the boys their holiday pjs and a new panda to snuggle with while we were there.  Asher just about died.  This boy loves him some 'nanda'.

With three pandas floating around pretty much every photo here is a find the panda adventure - they were everywhere! 

The day after Thanksgiving I did some Black Friday shopping of a less typical nature.  We went bridesmaid dress shopping!  Drew's youngest brother is getting married in May and I was honored to be asked to be in Ali's bridal party.  She was really kind to us and picked a gorgeous dress!  Can't wait to show you all when it comes in.

Mercer, on the other hand, was prepared for a full day of deal snatching and/or sending off a list to Santa - whichever came easier. The sales fliers were everywhere and unavoidable - ha!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.  We have a lot to be grateful for over here.  December is right around the corner and we have a big birthday and Christmas coming up!  More on our preparations for all of that fun to come...

thankful

It seems like every year I have a longer and longer list of things to be thankful for.  I love that there is a special day set aside to reflect on how much God has blessed us and to share that with those we love!

My resolution every year {yes, I make Thanksgiving resolutions :-)} is to spread this blessed feeling and grateful spirit to every day of the year.

Topping my list this year is my boys - both Drew and Asher.  I'm so grateful that they are in my life.  There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think about how less full my life would be if either of them weren't in it.  Things aren't always perfect - but there's no one else I'd rather weather life's ups and downs with.

I love you Drew and Asher!

And to all of my bloggy friends - Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all are having a wonderful holiday with your friends and family. 

onward turkey soldiers

I've created an army.

An army of turkey soldiers.

They're just like Darth Vader's Storm Troopers.  Only more delicious.

What's a holiday without some Pinterest inspiration?  Loved this idea when I saw it a few months ago and {fortunately} remembered that I pinned it and made these guys last night!  If you want to see just how easy it was to do, check out the directions here. 

I think they'll make a delicious and adorable addition to our Thanksgiving table.  Drew says that they are appetite busters and that we'll have to put them on the table, then gather them back up until dessert.  ha!  
We'll see...  :-)

pucker up

If I had to make a list of things that Asher is thankful for this year, I'd like to think that Drew and I are on the top.  But, if I'm being honest, I have to say that it would probably be...milk.

This boy loves milk and would have a much less happy life if that deliciously creamy beverage wasn't a part of his day. 

I'm ok with that.  He's still at the top of my list.  :-)

sweet success

Thanks for all of your encouraging comments and emails on my post about Asher's newest adventure.  You all are the best!  I'll definitely be talking about it more and describing some of the new toys we have and games we play to help stimulate Asher's senses and strengthen his core.

On Sunday we were playing outside a little and got to see some progress in action!

Normally when Asher wants to get up over the curb he throws out his hand for me to grab and help him up.  Today I refused and instead encouraged him to do it himself.

It wasn't easy

but he kept working

and working

and finally...

he made it!  Can't you just see the joy of success in him.  :-)

Go Asher!

We hope {and truly believe} that some day steps like this will be an easy task that he doesn't even have to think about.  We'll get there!

the {moustache}-ing

I have a new favorite.

Shirt, that is. 

I first saw this design idea on a Christmas card and knew instantly that it would have to be Asher's Christmas shirt.  Since I waited sooo long to make his Thanksgiving one I had to strike while the sewing machine was still hot and whip up his Christmas tee! 

Just try and tell me that Asher won't be the {moustache}-ing, I mean, most dashing at all of his holiday parties this year!  :-)

{moustache}-ing through the snow...

on a one horse open sleigh...

over the fields we go...

laughing all the way!

Love me some good mustache humor - and little man wear.  ha!

a part of asher's story

This all started several months ago and, until now I just didn't feel like talking about it. It almost felt too personal, too intimate to share. Because, you see, this isn't really my story - it's Asher's. But I'm ready to tell you all what's been going on because I so value your support, advice, and prayers. My other hope is that our life stories might be a blessing and encouragment to someone else.

In past posts I think I've mentioned how Asher is a man of few words.  While I read about the hilarious stuff that other Dec '09 babes are saying I always felt a little wistful because Asher doesn't talk hardly at all.  Our pediatrician kept saying that some kids {boys especially} talk later and not to worry, but I knew something was off.  By the time Asher was 21 months and still only saying 10 or so words I called the pediatrician again and asked what we could do.  She recommended calling our county's Early Intervention program and getting an appointment for an evaluation - so that's what I did.

About 3 weeks ago we finally got in for our evaluation and met with both a speech therapist and an occupational therapist.  They observed Asher playing and had a lot to say about what might be going on with him.  To my enormous surprise, they both felt like Asher had very low tone in his core and had some gross motor and fine motor delays.

I wasn't expecting this AT ALL.

To my eyes, Asher always got around fine and kept up with his peers.  When I started paying attention to the behaviors that they pointed out it became much clearer. 

Asher still walks on his toes sometimes and has a lot of trouble standing still - he can't find his balance because he doesn't have good muscle tone.

He doesn't speak much because the core muscles affect every other muscle - including those in the face and jaw.

He can't walk up and down stairs or climb up into a chair by himself. 

He only uses his right hand and foot.

Needless to say, I was pretty upset when we left that appointment.  I felt like a complete failure as a mother for not knowing the ways that he was struggling.  The therapists reiterated several times that there was no way I should have known these things {they are, after all, trained to look for these exact delays} but I couldn't help feeling bad anyway.

I'm his mother.  We spend all day, every day together.  I should have known.

But - that's the past.  In truth, they're right, there's no way I could have known something was wrong because I'm not a trained occupational therapist or child development specialist.  I'm a Mom and {let's be honest} Mom's tend to see the stuff their kids do best.  :-)

The great news is that they assessed Asher's comprehensive language skills at being several months ahead of this age, which means he doesn't have a cognitive delay, but a physical one.  The physical is much easier to help!

For now we'll have both occupational and speech therapists come to our house several times a month to 'play' with Asher and train me in how to help him.  We have a lot of goals for him to reach over the next year, but we're taking it one day at a time. 

I've been given TONS of ideas on how to help him throughout the day.  Every game we play now has a reason behind it.  Every time I give him food it's in a certain way to maximize his reach and encourage him to use his left hand.  Slowly, but surely, it's becoming second nature to me. 

In just the past few weeks I have already noticed some improvements!  Asher is now able to get up and down from the couch by himself and is also able to crawl down the stairs backwards.  Turns out, I was just shielding him a little too much.  Protective Mommy needs to STEP BACK.  ha!

We all have chapters in our lives and this is one of Asher's {and mine}.  I need to record it here because I want a way to look back in a year and see just how far he's come.  Hopefully in a few months I'll be right there with the rest of you posting about the funny thing that he said or the way I caught him dancing on the dining room table.  :-)

gobble, gobble

We're pretty excited about Thanksgiving around here. 

I just love Thanksgiving!

What's not to love - food, family, days off from work, the start of the holiday season, and of course, little turkeys!

I made some turkey shirts for Asher's girlfriends a few months back, but got busy and procrastinated making his shirt for waaay too long.  Once I looked at the calendar and realized that Thanksgiving is next week {!} I got my backside in gear and churned this cutie out over the weekend.

Can't wait for my little man to gobble up some great food and count his blessings in his new shirt!

{I have to thank Lindsay at the Cottage House Blog for her inspiration!}

positive feedback

Asher has been such a big helper recently.  He understands so many directions and really gets a lot of self-confidence and joy out of serving!

His favorite job is throwing stuff in the garbage can.

After his job is done we get to my favorite part - celebrating a job well done!

If you aren't quick enough to clap Asher will totally call you out on it.  I've gotten more than my fair share of "Mama!  YAY!"  reprimands from him.  He does the same thing when the coffee maker perks in the morning.  Once he hears it start to brew {from anywhere on the 1st floor} Asher immediately stops what he's doing and begins clapping and cheering.  Usually Daddy is the non-celebrator then and gets a big "Dada!  YAY!" reprimand. 

ha ha - love this boy.  :-)

bouncing for joy

Another first for Asher this weekend was jumping in a moon bounce!

Just like with the pony rides, at first he was a little hesitant.  In fact - it may have taken me climbing in with him to get the party started. 

Here's where I admit that I was seriously concerned about getting inside.  I mean these things aren't designed for adults and my HUGE fear was somehow 'popping' it and ruining the whole party with my mommy-sized self.  The only reason I gave it a try was because every single other kid was over at the pony rides and I figured if it can handle 15 jumping children, then surely it can hold the combined weight of one {barely bouncing} Emily + Asher.

Once I got in Asher loosened up and realized how much FUN it is to bounce! 

Even when I got out and the other kids came back Asher had a great time.  I, on the other hand, was a wreck.  The bigger kids were going crazy - jumping and flipping - and I was terrified Asher would get crushed.  Needless to say, we got him out of there pretty soon after. 

He wasn't a fan of that idea.

Drew and I both love seeing Asher have fun so much that now we're talking about renting a moon bounce for his birthday!  We figure if it's just him and a few other little kid friends then the potential for crush injuries should be minimal.  Stay tuned...ha! 

there's a new sheriff in town

Ah, Monday.  The day when "normal" schedules pick back up and weekend nostalgia sets in.  This past weekend was such a fun one for us!  I love fun weekends, but they really do make it that much harder to start a work week.

{and yes - even though I stay at home with Asher I still have a work week! ha!}

On Saturday our family of three headed over to a 1st birthday party for our cousin, Nico!  It was a Western theme and sooo cute!! 

Uh-oh, watch out for this little outlaw.

Asher got to try a lot of fun new things, including - a pony ride!

At first he was really excited to pat the "neigh-neigh" but balked big time when the lady offered him a ride.

But then he saw some other kids riding and got really intrigued.  Suddenly it was all we could do to keep him out of the saddle! 

Giddy-up Pixie!

For being brave and going on a ride Asher earned a cowboy hat and Sheriff's badge.

Sleep easy, townsfolks, Sheriff Asher is on duty. 

Someone is vying for my attention, so I don't have time right now to post all of the other fun stuff he did, but I do need to finish with the best.  S'mores on a stick!  It would be a major understatement to say that Asher loved these.  Mostly he would go at it from the top, biting off all of the graham cracker and chocolate, then handing me the marshmallow to finish.  Which I gladly did - hey, you can't argue with the law!

I just love seeing him love something.  :-)

More party fun to come...!

necessity is the mother of invention

Sometime you just need to make do.  Asher has shot up like a weed recently and all of his pants are too short.  See...

whoa - embarrassing.

But he's also such a skinny mini that the next size bigger pants just fall right down.  I looked all over for a toddler belt and just couldn't find any that I liked.  There are very few options to begin with and those that are out there are pretty expensive.  So, I did what any crafty mama would do and made him a belt {kind of}.

This isn't an attractive belt, so I'll only use it when he's wearing shirts that hang below the waistline - which is most of his shirts, actually.

All I did was take a piece of elastic and sew suspender clips at both ends.  Then I threaded the elastic through his front belt loops and clipped the ends onto 2 loops.  Easy!

I have to be totally honest and admit that I actually made this "belt" for a different purpose.  Remember a few weeks ago when Asher got suited up for the wedding?  Well, there's nothing I hate worse than having a dress shirt hanging out, except maybe trying to tuck in a toddler's shirt every few minutes seconds.  To keep his shirt tucked in neatly I made this elastic piece.  I clipped on end on the front of his shirt, ran the elastic between his legs, and clipped the other end on the back.

Sort of like a homemade, temporary onesie.  Since he wears a diaper there was lots of padding and no, um, discomfort.  :-)  Worked like a charm - yay!